What you seem to be saying is that the fundamental returns of stocks (dividends and earnings) are more stable than the market price — which is true — but investors can't just ignore the price risk and speculative returns that are inherent in equity investing. Thanks for the chart that was illustrat...

As others have suggested, useful analysis of and response to your post requires consideration of a great many variables (e.g.,personal, financial, emotional). I therefore suggest you seek out and consult a competent, reputable financial planner for further advice. Of course, finding and compensating...

I'm hoping and planning to retire early and prior to establishing a new home base in an area with a lower cost of living, one thing I'd like to do is stash my belongings somewhere in the US (not a big deal for me) and head out for a year, likely 2 years. I am interested in visiting parts of Europe,...

I recently received a job offer as a Consumer Safety Officer with the FDA. I was wondering if anyone had any knowledge of this job title or thoughts on federal employment in general. The position is in the food safety specialty and career ladders to gs 12. I currently work in a similar position for...

Ca. 30 years ago, Paul Terhorst retired at age 35 from a major CPA firm after deciding he was working mainly to fund his assets. He liquidated virtually all the assets, bought laddered, insured CDs, wrote Cashing in on the American Dream, and since has traveled the world with his wife Vicki. The boo...

Alex Frakt wrote:Let me sum up what you have said so far. You like everything about the consulting job. You hate everything about the banking job. The pay at the latter is better, but the former is enough to live on comfortably and you've already accepted a position there.

Whether the number is right or wrong, I think having something to aim at helps with achieving any kind of goal. You have to know where you want to go or you'll just wonder around without direction and you'll never know when you get there... wherever "there" is. If you don't know or care w...

Daughter in Oakland CA needs for few weeks in late '15--early '16 reliable, competent, full-time nanny for 3-year-old and new baby. Anyone knowledgeable about going rates of such help there and how to find it?

Yes, in part. With reasonably good luck, a purchased home appreciates in value over the long term, as with any prudent investment. Of course, while owned, a home may increase (even spike) or decline (even plummet) in value, as with any asset. A crucial consideration is that buying a home provides bo...

I have often thought that had I remained another year or two in my senior federal government job, my pension would have been substantially higher. But I concluded then and after 20+ retirement years conclude now that the stress would likely have substantially shortened my life and degraded its quali...

$9,000 (Oppenheimer Fund installment contract w/8.5 front end load sold by neighbor who somehow learned of my 1965 FSO commissioning). Seemed a good step at the time. As DW and I learned and earned more, we met our goal of ending each year at least somewhat better off financially, if only through in...

Welcome to the forum. Please don't be put off by suggestions that you read "books." There are any number of good books on investing and money management, but they all say pretty much the same things, e.g., live below your means, learn the basics of investing and money management, and avoid...

The long term benefit of rolling the entire 401k into a Roth IRA may well be substantial enough to justify borrowing whatever is needed to cover the tax cost. In today's historically low interest environment a manageable approach might be to use a home equity loan or even credit union loan (very low...

In the brief, charming diaries his publlishers importuned him to keep toward the end of his life, Alec Guinness confessed his penchant for occasionally buying a lottery ticket or two. My Name Escapes Me: The Diary of a Retiring Actor (Penguin Books, 1998) A Positively Final Appearance (Penguin Books...

You say that girl friend went to a local credit union and then spoke to the bank's financial adviser. Banks and credit unions are very significantly different, e.g. credit unions are not for profit and owned by their members, banks are typically investor owned for profit. Please clarity.

It seems very unlikely that someone who has cultivated on his own a $2 million portfolio is ignorant of "stepped up basis" (called by tax practitioners the "angel of death"). It means, essentially, that proceeds from sale of a gift of stock that exceed the giver's "basis&quo...

Having enjoyed 3 Viking Riverboat Cruises in Europe in recent years, DW and I now incline to a similar cruise this year in US, probably Mississippi, but possibly Columbia or other US river. Anyone care to advise or recommend?

When you have debt you've already incurred an expense which created the debt. Reducing your debt is equivalent to saving because you are then reducing your liabilities and increasing your net worth.Gill

For many years, my IRA was 100% Wellington and I have been very happy with it. As Dirk said, for a woman in her sixties, you might consider Wellesley because of its lower equity percentage. But given that SS and an annuity are sufficient for all of her living expenses, it is probably not such a ris...

Three books that shed considerable light on Buffett's life and financial success: The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder The Essays of Warren Buffett: Lessons for Corporate America, Third Edition, edited by Lawrence A. Cunningham The Intelligent Investor: The Defini...

A golfer can always go for the green. A tennis player can always go for the winning cross-court or up-the-line winner. An investor can always try to beat the market by buying individual stocks, managed mutual funds, or other "market beating investments." Bogleheads responsible for the fina...

I've extensively travelled the world while on expat assignments, and while I love my family I need a daily break from them How much time have you really spent with your family? I'm guessing you've worked very hard and a lot of hours with a lot of travel to achieve all your goals at 38. What do you ...

From 1971 (when our son was born) until 1991, when severe agency down-sizing resulted in my taking early retirement (at age 53) from a senior attorney job in a federal bank regulatory agency, I took great satisfaction in earning a comfortable living for my family. Occasionally, I reflect on the nega...

That you don't need whole life insurance is pretty clear. How much term insurance you need is less clear, depending e.g., on you wife's earning potential. and her and the children's emotional and other needs. Could she earn enough to hire a true surrogate (fill-in for her) with with only a portion o...

Congratulations on thinking about life insurance. It is a very grown-up subject. A great many people who should think about life insurance don't. Chapter 21 of The Bogleheads' Guide to Investment has a good, brief introduction to insurance, including a very brief introduction to life insurance. Chap...

Rack of lamb at a neighborhood restaurant DW and I stumbled on in Sidney many years ago during our only visit to Australia. My request for mint sauce conveyed to the chef resulted in one he whipped up just for us. My first ever request to congratulate a chef for an outstanding meal was rewarded by h...

The best case I know of for index investing is Jack Bogle's The Little Book of Common Sense Investing. It's short, well written, and very persuasive. If you read it and thereafter decide to play the "loser's game" of active investing, more power to you. You might be among those talented, d...

Have you considered sharing the cost of a session or two for her with a fee-only CFP (Certified Financial Planner)? That would demonstrate your commitment to her and possibly provide the basis for the two of you to put your obviously smart heads together to work out a solution to a very difficult co...

But if you are only paying 25bp or less (and in some cases you gain 7bp per year for holding SCV) you don't need much factor persistence to make the SCV fund better than the S&P 500. Packer 16: Personally, I would sleep better knowing I was invested in the S&P 500 companies which are among ...

If the shortfall is not unbridgeable, you might consider borrowing the amount needed to close it. As with any use of "leverage," there is risk to that, but depending on all the circumstances, it might be beneficial in the long run. Run the numbers, assess the probabilities, and do what se...

If the shortfall is not unbridgeable, you might consider borrowing the amount needed to close it. As with any use of "leverage," there is risk to that, but depending on all the circumstances, it might be beneficial in the long run. Run the numbers, assess the probabilities, and do what see...

Ca. 20 years ago, DW, teen age son and daughter, and I rented on a shoe string a week in a villa near Sienna and had a wonderful time. Some glitches, e.g., loss of electricity the first night, but mostly just wonderful memories. One glitch still rankles: drawing $300 worth of Lira from a public ATM ...

This question is specifically addressed in The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need (AndrewTobias) and The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing (Taylor Larimore et al.). For a cost of ca. $40 (Amazon) those books provide excellent, unbiased advice on this any many other personal finance questions. Buy a...

About thirty years ago, I read articles in Parade Magazine and/or Newsweek by Jane Bryant Quinn and Andrew Tobias that made sense to me, so I bought, read, and recommended to others Quinn's Making the Most of Your Money (currently Making The Most of Your Money Now) and Tobias's The Only Investment G...

The Good Society (1996), John Kenneth Galbraith. Among other things, Professor Galbraith debunks the notion that deficit government spending inherently and unfairly burdens future generations. He argues that deficit spending for education, health care, infrastructure, and even national defense is ak...

Congratulations. Being named a trustee is a very high honor. But, of course, with the honor comes obligation and liability. The obligation, according to Justice Cardozo, is a punctilio of honor the most sensitive; that is, undivided loyalty to the trust and beneficiaries. Of course, the liability fo...

After marrying in 1962 and re-settling in the DC area in 1968, DW and I decided to live not too close to in-laws or too far from work. Results: commuting time 30 min or less each way for next 25 years with stress-free option whether and when to visit in-laws. Worked for us.

Our mentor, Jack Bogle, has often condoned modest investment in individual stocks for those interested in trying their hand at the "loser's game." So, if the OP wishes to do that, who are we to say him nay? For guidance on such activity, I highly recommend "The Essays of Warren Buffet...

Current values of stock investments fluctuate. Depending on when you buy and sell, you will do better or worse. For Bogleheads who buy and hold (perhaps re-balancing periodically) the periodic notional "profits" and "losses" are just noise.